Sturmay, Calvert earn byes into finals at Canadian Curling Pre-Trials

WOLFVILLE — Selena Sturmay and Braden Calvert locked up byes to their respective finals in Thursday’s afternoon draw at the Home Hardware Canadian Curling Pre-Trials.

Edmonton’s Sturmay earned a bye to the women’s final with a 10-2 win over Victoria’s Kayla McMillan.

Sturmay and McMillan entered the penultimate round-robin draw tied atop the women’s standings. But a score of three followed by a steal of one allowed Sturmay (5-1) to close out the lopsided win in just eight ends and assure her first place in the round robin.

Calvert, from Winnipeg, finished atop the men’s round robin standings at 5-2 with an 8-6 win over Scott Howard of Navan, Ont.

Winnipeg’s Jordon McDonald was at 4-2 heading into the final draw, but lost to Calvert in round-robin play.

The second and third-place teams in each competition play in a semifinal Friday, with the winner meeting the round robin’s top seed in a best-of-three final.

In other women’s scores Thursday afternoon, Ottawa’s Danielle Inglis beat Winnipeg’s Beth Peterson 8-6.

McMillan was at 4-2 heading into the final draw, followed by Inglis, Ashley Thevenot of Martinville, Sask., Edmonton’s Myla Plett, and Krista Scharf of Thunder Bay, Ont., at 3-3.

In men’s action, Jayden King of London, Ont., defeated Jean-Michel Ménard of Montreal 10-8, and Owen Purcell of Halifax defeated Mark Kean of Woodstock, Ont., 9-7.

Howard, King and Ménard all finished the round-robin at 4-3. Sam Mooibroek of Whitby, Ont., was at 3-3 heading into his final match.

The men’s and women’s winners of the pre-trials join the Montana’s Curling Trials fields next month in Halifax.

The trials determine Canada’s teams for February’s Winter Olympics in Milan and Cortina, Italy.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 23, 2025.